RSF condemns the Russian strike on the Kramatorsk hotel that killed a Reuters employee

The international watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the Russian attack on the Sapphire Hotel in Kramatorsk (Donetsk oblast) on August 24, 2024, which killed one Reuters employee and injured two others. The organization called for a thorough investigation to identify the culprits and prosecute them, according to the RSF statement.

"RSF condemns the death of Reuters security advisor Ryan Evans and is concerned about the health of his two journalist colleagues – one of whom is in a serious condition – who were injured by the same Russian missile strike. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families," says Jeanne Cavelier, Head of RSF’s Eastern Europe & Central Asia Desk.

Cavelier says that they did not yet know whether the hotel was targeted because of the presence of the media. Still, she reminded that since the beginning of the war, the Russian army has been deliberately attacking journalists and their crews to prevent them from reporting, in violation of international law. RSF is calling for a thorough investigation to identify and prosecute those responsible.

As reported earlier, the Russian missile strike on the Sapphire Hotel in Kramatorsk killed Ryan Evans, a safety advisor with the British news agency Reuters.

The other two members of the Reuters team were injured and hospitalized. Reuters cameraman Ivan Lyubysh-Kirdey was severely wounded. He is in a hospital in Dnipro. He is in a serious condition on IVL, and has undergone a surgery.

According to law enforcers, the casualties inlcuded four injured reporters: citizens of the USA, Germany, Latvia, and Ukraine. The injured journalists, aged 38, 40, 41 and 46, were provided with medical assistance. Two of them have been hospitalized, the others are being treated on an outpatient basis.

The National Police notes that Russia struck the hotel where a crew of foreign reporters was staying with an Iskander-M missile.